Had found this last week while doing my Space Bucket Lunar Module research, finally gave it a watch-through and am fascinated. It's a parade of suits pushing their project proposal to NASA but is redeemed by cool test aircraft footage and an extensive look at and inside their lander vehicle in mockup form. And yes, I am almost convinced that what I know now to refer to as the Convair General Dynamics LEM prototype was the basis for the Hing Fat "Space Astronauts" lunar lander.
It never flew. And it was only by watching the video that I now understand the contraption did have a descent stage would would have remained on the moon as per the Grumman design as well. Another space plastics enthusiast pointed out how the design is along the lines of a Moon Helicopter using thruster jets instead of propellers, and I think he's onto something there.
The landing struts are slightly different. On the Convair vehicle they connect to the underside of the descent stage. Hing Fat's connect at the side, which may have been a design necessity related to how the descent stage mould would form the plastics. Since there was to be no bottom they had nothing to connect the struts to, and re-worked them to meet at the sides.
My "thesis" be that the early-era Hing Fat designers (or whoever it was) clipped off the boom arms, eliminated the windows and placed them at what had been the windows but became the four corners of a simplified crew compartment with no window cutouts. The antennae were then placed on the top and the form re-shaped to have post holes for them to go into, eliminating the egress hatch & explaining why there is no door or ladder. In this early design proposal the landing crew would toss a ridiculous rope ladder over the side to clamber in and out in their pressurized EVA suits.
"Sideways" view. Pretty sure that's it, strut positions aside.
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